Question

【题目】As if 2016 hadn’t been hard enough for China’s workforce, a yearly survey has revealed that more than half of the country’s white-collar employees got no year-end bonus ahead of the upcoming and costly lunar(农历的) New Year holiday. The survey of 11,500 workers by Chinese employment agency Zhaopin found that 50.9 per cent did not get an annual bonus at the end of 2016. Another 9.6 percent were told their bonuses had been delayed until after the New Year holiday.

Before the slowdown that began in 2014, employers in China had been less ungenerous with cash bonuses, which can total well over a full month’s pay and send employees back home for the holiday with plenty of cash for gifts to elders and other family members or to put away as savings. The impact of weak growth on year-end bonuses may have reached the highest point in 2015, however, when 66 per cent of white-collar workers received no year-end bonuses. And the 2016 level actually represents an improvement from 2014, when 61 per cent had to go without.

But that recovery has also seen the size of bonuses drop: last year the average bonus was Rmb 12,821（$1,861）, about Rmb 2,000 more than that in 2015 but still about Rmb800 below the 2014 average. More than a quarter of those surveyed who saw their bonuses drop last year blamed the drop on poor company performance.

Differences among the 34 cities surveyed were still greater, as the average bonus of over Rmb 15,800 in Beijing was more than three times than that in the lowest-paying city of Shenyang. Employees of state-owned firms also expressed more satisfaction with their bonuses than those at private companies — and little wonder, as the average bonus at the former was Rmb 17,318, or about Rmb 6,000 more than what private companies’ employees could expect.

But the impact of companies’ stinginess(吝啬) can go beyond simply ruining employees’ New Year holiday, possibly coming back to affect employers: 39 percent of respondents said they would look for work elsewhere if their year-end bonus was not returned to normal, an increase of 2.3 Percentage points from 2015.

【1】Which is the right order of the year of year-end bonuses’ receiving percentage according to the passage?

A. 2016>2015>2014 B. 2016>2014>2015

C. 2015>2016>20I4 D. 2014>2015>2016

【2】What can we know from the passage?

A. Some employees think poor company performance is a reason for the bonus drop.

B. Small bonus differences exist in the 34 cities surveyed in China.

C. The average bonus in Shenyang is over Rmb5500.

D. Private firms’ workers can get more bonuses than those in state-owned firms.

【3】Which is the best title for the passage?

A. Bonus Differences between State-owned Firms and Private Firms

B. The Importance of Bonuses for White-collar Workers in China

C. A Hard Year for China’s White-collar Workers

D. A survey of China’s Workforce’s Year-end Bonuses

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】D

【解析】这是一篇社会新闻类文章。一项年度调查披露，中国逾半数白领雇员春节假期来临前没有领到年终奖。调查表明经济增长疲软是影响年终奖发放的主要因素。同时不同产业和城市之间，年终奖的数额也不同。国有企业员工对年终奖表达了比民营企业更高的满意度。企业在年终奖上的吝啬，不仅仅影响到员工，同时也可能造成雇工离职，反噬雇主。

【1】细节理解题。由第二段中的“The impact of weak growth on year-end bonuses may have reached the highest point in 2015, however, when 66 per cent of white-collar workers received no year-end bonuses. And the 2016 level actually represents an improvement from 2014, when 61 per cent had to go without.”可知，2015年有66%的员工没有收到年终奖，2016年好于2014年，未收到年终奖的比例是61%。故选B。

【2】细节理解题。由第三段中的“More than a quarter of those surveyed who saw their bonuses drop last year blamed the drop on poor company performance.”可知，在奖金缩水的被调查者中，逾四分之一的人将原因归结为公司业绩太差。故选A。

【3】标题判断题。由第一段的“As if 2016 hadn’t been hard enough for China’s workforce, a yearly survey has revealed that more than half of the country’s white-collar employees got no year-end bonus ahead of the upcoming and costly lunar（农历的）New Year holiday.”可知，文章主要讲述一项年度调查披露，中国逾半数白领雇员在即将到来的农历春节假期来临前没有领到年终奖。故D项“一项关于中国雇员的年终奖励的分析”为最佳标题。故选D。

选择标题在英语阅读理解题中属主旨大意题，是深层理解题，它要求考生在通读全文的基础上，认真分析主人公的特定心态、文章大意及作者的写作意图。通常情况下，标题具有概括性、针对性、醒目性的特点。所谓概括性，就是指标题应在最大程度上覆盖全文，囊括文章的主要内容，体现文章的主题。针对性是对标题外延的一种界定，标题要直接指向文章的主要特点。而醒目性是为了吸引读者的注意力，唤起读者对文章阅读的兴趣。解答此类问题的方法之一就是寻找文章的主题段，了解文章主要论题，主题段通常在文章首段。例如小题3：纵观全文可知，第一段是主题段，由第一段的“As if 2016 hadn’t been hard enough for China’s workforce, a yearly survey has revealed that more than half of the country’s white-collar employees got no year-end bonus ahead of the upcoming and costly lunar（农历的）New Year holiday.”可知，文章主要讲述一项年度调查披露，中国逾半数白领雇员在即将到来的农历春节假期来临前没有领到年终奖。故D项“一项关于中国雇员的年终奖励的分析”为最佳标题。故选D。